JFK (DVD 1999)

Oliver Stone's "JFK" is a monstrous epic that revolves around the whole mystery around President Kennedy's assassination. While it is a dramatic picture and Stone most likely twisted a few things to make this a more relevant and better movie, it is still an undeniable powerhouse that has you go through a whole set of emotions, ranging from fear, anger, paranoia and sadness. There's no question that the majority of the country believes that there is more to the assassination than we were lead to believe. I don't think it's exactly how it is in the movie, but that's not important. What is important is that the film works for many reasons.
President Kennedy has been assassinated. Lee Harvey Oswald is the suspect and gets shot shortly after. There is a secretive and brief hearing on the whole assassination, and it is in stone that Oswald was a lone gunman and nobody else was involved. Seems like an open-and-shut-case, but District Attorney Jim Garrison isn't willing to buy it. With his staff, they decide to work on the case, until they are shut down by the government. Three years later, Garrison isn't willing to stand by in silence anymore and decides to go ahead with the case. The further he digs, the more horrible truths he uncovers. Not only that, but people high up in the ranks are willing to do anything to make sure that the American Public will never find out about them.

As I said, this isn't meant to be an entirely accurate portrayal of how everything happened. It suggests to you that it could've been this way, and it even does a good job of presenting its case to you. What I think Stone was trying to achieve was to create his own commentary on how people feel about the handling of the whole assassination and how sloppily the case was handled. The film wasn't made to merely exploit the death of Kennedy, but what it does exploit is the fact that we're willing to believe anything they tell us in the media. It's a hard concept to grasp, because it's not too far from the truth. The movie is brilliantly directed and well-acted. Kevin Costner gives one of the best performances of his career. The film has a whole list of famous actors in it, like Gary Oldman, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pesci, Sissy Spacek and a whole bunch more. They are all fantastic in their roles.

A word of warning; this is a VERY LONG movie. It is about 3 and a half hours long in running time. If you want to watch this, then you have to really commit to it. If you're not in the mood for a very lengthy movie, then you will not be able to enjoy this. The new 2-Disc Special Edition offers a remastered director's cut that looks and sounds great. Another interesting feature is the documentary, "Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy." Extras included are deleted/extended scenes, commentary from the director, theatrical trailer, essays and DVD-ROM features. A very nice package that does the film justice.

"JFK" is an amazing picture that did not bore me for a single second. Not only does it work as a powerful drama, but it also works as an intense thriller. Did everything happen the way the movie proposes? Maybe, maybe not. What the film does is make you think about everything that happened around the assassination. Any film that can get the brain thinking is more than okay in my book. A very character-driven and passionate epic that is perfectly executed by Oliver Stone.